Natasha's Pet Unicorn
by ShipItLikeFedEx
Summary: Natasha tells Clint about how every pet she's ever had died or ran away. Clint bets her he can find her a pet that will do neither of those things, but Natasha is disbelieving. I suck at summaries. Oneshot, please R&R :D


_A/N Hey guys, this is my first fic ever. I hope you like it! It just popped into my head one day :D_

It was late Saturday afternoon, and Clint ambled into the room, to see Natasha curled up in an arm chair with a laptop.

"Hey Nat," he said, as he flopped onto the couch, his hair damp from his shower. He sprawled himself out so he took up the entire couch, and stared at the ceiling. _Typical Tony_, he thought, _naming the tower after himself, and then engraving even the _ceiling _with 'Stark'_. "Did you ever have any pets?" he asked Natasha randomly. The pair had just returned from another mission in Budapest. For some reason, being in Budapest always made Clint want to know more about Natasha. Even the small things. Although he had been her partner for so long, sometimes he felt like he hardly knew her. The spy in question looked up from the paperwork she was filling out, before tilting her head to one side, thinking. Clint turned his head towards her when she didn't answer right away.

"I had a cat when I was little, before the fire…" she said slowly. Clint stared at her until she continued. "I don't remember his name. He ran away, I think. And a few years ago, I had some fish, but they died coz I forgot to feed them." Clint grinned at the image of Nat doing something as simple as feeding fish every morning. Usually it was all guns and big explosions and missions for her; he found it funny to picture her doing normal, domestic-y things. "And then once I went to Coulson's house after a mission, to wait for the helicarrier, and his bunny rabbit mysteriously died...And couple of months ago Pepper wanted to get a puppy, but when we went to the pet store they were all kind of scared of me. I don't think I get on well with animals." She finished. Clint saw the little frown that graced her features whenever she was frustrated.

"Do you _want_ a pet?" Clint asked, as a brilliant idea hit him. Natasha smiled at him.

"Yeah, a little bit… but I don't think our line of work means I would be able to look after a pet very well. Also, like I said, I don't think I'm very good with animals." Clint grinned at her some more.

"What?"

"I bet you twenty bucks I can get you a pet that won't run away, or die within the first five days." he claimed, sitting up. The red head opposite him snorted in disbelief, _all_ her experiences with animals had gone badly, even just on short missions.

"You're on." She said, shaking his hand. Clint stood, and made his way towards the door. "Where are you going?" Nat asked. "You still have to help me finish filling out all these forms!" she yelled at Clint's retreating back.

"E-mail them to me!" his reply drifted down the hallway.

"JARVIS, find me the nearest department store please." Clint instructed, as he rode the elevator down to the lobby of Stark Tower.

"There is a Wal-Mart two blocks down, on the right hand side of the street, sir." The computer informed him. Clint jogged out of the tower, imagining Natasha's face when she saw her new pet for the first time, and the feel of an extra $20 in his pocket.

"JARVIS, where is Clint going?" Natasha asked. He had looked so purposeful; maybe he actually _was_ going to get her a pet that wouldn't die. Maybe she _would_ owe him twenty dollars.

"I believe Mr. Barton is on his way to Wal-Mart, Miss. Romanov." All Natasha's worries about having to look after a pet and give Clint $20 disappeared. Where would you get a pet from in Wal-Mart? She grinned to herself, before going back to the paperwork.

Clint strode into the shop, before realizing he had no idea what kind of animal Nat wanted. He pulled out his phone and dialled her number.

Natasha jumped as her phone went off. She checked the caller ID before flipping open the phone.

"Clint, got my $20 already?" she asked brightly, feigning surprise.

"_No_, I was wondering what kind of animal you wanted." Clint asked, looking around him. "There are heaps here…" Natasha thought for a moment, before responding. She was going to make this as difficult for him as possible.

"I WANT AN ORANGE UNICORN!" she yelled into the phone, before hanging up. _Let's see how he does now_ she thought.

Clint winced at Natasha's sudden yell, before scanning the shelves around him. _Dammit! _He thought. There were no orange unicorns. Then he saw it. It wasn't exactly an orange unicorn, but it was the closest he would get. He scooped it up and went to buy it, before making his way back to Stark Tower. His excitement increased as the prospect of being $20 richer came ever closer.

Natasha's head shot up as Clint bounded into the room, looking very pleased with himself.

"You owe me $20!" he sang. Nat raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"You actually managed to find an orange unicorn?" she smirked. Clint smile faltered a bit.

"Well, not exactly. I got the closest thing. But it's still a pet, so you still owe me $20!" Then Natasha noticed the way he was standing, with both hands behind his back, as though he was hiding something.

"Show it to me first, then we'll decide if it counts as a pet." She sighed. Clint turned around, protecting whatever was in his hands from her view with his body.

"Okaaay, close your eyes, and hold your arms out." Clint instructed. Natasha did as he said, becoming more suspicious when she heard the rustling of a plastic bag. She heard Clint's heavy footfalls come towards her, before something fluffy touched her arms. "Now, open your eyes!" Natasha opened her eyes, and glanced down. "It's your brand-new, very own, RAINBOW UNICORN PILLOW PET!" Clint exclaimed enthusiastically, "It's perfect! You don't have to feed it, it can be left by itself while you're on missions, and it will last more than five days!" He was bobbing excitedly up and down in front of her like a child at Christmas. "Isn't it awesome? I saw an ad for them on TV yesterday, and I really wanted one. See, what you do is undo that Velcro strip on it's stomach, and it turns into a pillow…" Natasha tuned him out as she examined the thing in her arms. It was incredibly fluffy, fluffier than any toy had a right to be. Its fluff was a weirdly bright mix of greens, blues, purples, pinks, and yellows. It had a pale pink horn protruding from its head. She looked back at Clint, who was still grinning excitedly, awaiting her reaction.

"You owe me a twenty. This is not a pet, it is a cushion of rainbow fluff with a horn." Clint's face fell.

"It is _totally_ a pet! It even says it on the label!" he argued.

"Nope, you owe me $20. A pillow is not a pet." Nat said stubbornly.

"Fine, then. Give it back. It can be my pet if you don't want it." He stuck his arms out to carry the pillow pet back to his room. Natasha noticed the way Clint's voice had just the tiniest bit of longing in it when he spoke of the unicorn. She smirked, before saying

"You can have it when you give me $20." Then grabbed her laptop and flouncing triumphantly back to her room on their shared floor of Stark Tower.

"I don't have any cash on me!" Clint pouted after her. He went to her room and knocked on the door. "Naaaat…"

"Nope!" he could almost hear her grinning. "Not until I have my $20!"

"But all the banks are shuuuut…"

"A grown man, and master assassin whining isn't very attractive, Barton. Especially when he is whining about a unicorn. Now, go finish that paper work, Fury wants it done by Monday." Clint stomped off to his room. If she was keeping the unicorn because she liked it, he wouldn't have minded. But she was keeping it because _he_ wanted it, which was just unfair.

It was after midnight. Clint had stayed up filling in medical forms and reports about the mission, but he still had tons of work left. Nat was probably asleep by now. Quietly, he slipped out of his room and into their shared kitchen, before scanning the cupboards for some sugary snacks. A minute later he left, chips and coke in hand. As he went past Natasha's room, he saw something that surprised him. Natasha was curled up in bed, the covers drawn up only to her waist, as it was the middle of summer. Her fiery red curls were spread out across the pillow, and for a moment he marvelled at how perfect she could be, even without trying. The thing that surprised him though, was the sight of Natasha's arms wrapped tightly around her newly procured rainbow unicorn. He supressed the urge to take a photo for future blackmail purposes, and crept back to his room.

It had been just over five days. The unicorn was still alive, and Clint was pretending he'd forgotten about it, to see if she would give it to him, or keep it. He knew she slept curled up with it every night. He was going through his wallet looking for some spare change to try out in the games and arcade room Tony had just finished building, when he came across a twenty dollar bill. He was fairly certain that wasn't there before. He tipped his wallet upside down, half expecting a listening device to fall out. Instead, he got a small piece of paper.  
"It's been more than five days. The unicorn is still here. You win - NR"

_A/N So, how was it? Please leave a review, they make me happy :D_


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